Category: hercules

SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD Blu-ray….

Kino Lorber has announced that they will be releasing a Blu-ray later this year of the neglected SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD (1960), directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Gordon Scott, Yoko Tani, Gabriele Antonini and more. This is excellent news. From the sporadic info going around the internet, it seems the Blu-ray release will have the original Italian cut and the shorter US cut. This is perfect. Every PEPLUM release in North America should include both the original Italian version and the often cut US release.

There’s already a beautiful copy of the movie shown on RAI in Italy (screenshot below). The thing is: will the cut scenes, almost all of them at the beginning, will be in English or in Italian with English subtitles. The US version starts approximately 10 minutes into the original Italian cut. No English dubbing has ever been heard of those 10+ missing minutes.

Mark Forest RIP

PEPLUM actor Mark Forest died on January 7 at the age of 89. He made 12 movies, all entertaining and fun. I wrote a comprehensive overview of his career and his movies at the main PEPLUM TV blog. Make sure to check it out.

http://www.peplumtv.com/2022/01/mark-forest-rip.html

None of his films have made it on Blu-ray. Many of his movies have been broadcast in HD but never published to Blu-ray.

New titles in HD…

As I stated last week, there is a new batch of PEPLUM movies which have been broadcasted or streamed in HD. Someone on Youtube uploaded clips from these broadcast or streaming services. It’s a pretty good list. Here we go:

HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH starring Alessandra Panaro and Pietro Marascalchi as Moloch

URSUS AND THE TARTAR PRINCESS starring Joe Robinson, Yoko Tani, and Ettore Manni. Nice print. I already have a nice print of this but this one seems clearer.

SIEGE OF SYRACUSE starring Rossano Brazzi and Tina Louise

JOURNEY BENEATH THE DESERT starring Haya Harareet and Amedeo Nazzari. Unlike the other titles, this one is in French.

IL FIGLIO DI AQUILLA NERA starring Mimmo Palmara

TREASURE OF THE PETRIFIED FOREST starring Gordon Mitchell

There are more titles in HD, 720p or 1080p, including copies I already have in my collection. Hopefully, the full movies will be available instead of short clips.

Oh this one is nice…

I came across an HD print of HERCULES THE AVENGER (1965) starring Reg Park as Hercules and Giovanni Cianfriglia as Antaeus. Now the clip is short but the quality of the print is jaw dropping. This movie has never been available in a clear print ever…even the Retromedia DVD is in poor quality. In widescreen but a terrible print. Seeing it in HD is amazing. I’ll have more in future posts, either here or at the main blog, once I get more information on it.

THE MIGHTY URSUS in HD on Amazon Prime Canada…

Amazon Prime Canada movie selection is terrible, certainly in regards to PEPLUM movies. Here’s what’s available when searching ‘HERCULES’

Not much. Well, there is the French version of THE MIGHTY URSUS, called LA FUREUR D’HERCULE (1961) starring Ed Fury. So I watched it and it says at the bottom of the movie it’s in HD.

Taking screenshots of Amazon Prime from my computer is impossible. The screen is black or blank. So. I took a photo of the images with my iPhone.

The photo is fuzzy because the motion of the movie but I have to say that the quality of the image itself is pretty good. Not perfect but better than anything out there. It resembles the German DVD but at a higher resolution and less cropping on the sides.  The opening credits are in German but the movie itself is in French.  Anyway, it’s a nice surprise. Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes.

Would you pay $472 for…

…a vintage BEN-HUR board game?

I’ve been looking for this rare board game based on the blockbuster BEN-HUR (1959) epic on eBay and someone finally posted one for sale…at $472 US (or 400 Euros). It’s in Spanish from Spain. It’s in pretty good condition but as much of a PEPLUM fan I am, I wouldn’t pay that much for one.

THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR Artus Films DVD…

I recently got the ARTUS FILMS release of THE MAGNIFICENT GlADIATOR (1964) starring Mark Forest and Marilù Tolo. This is definitely the best print yet that is until an HD print is made available. I like this film. It has everything a PEPLUM movie should have. I like watching it but the copies I have in my collection (7 different prints) are fairly ordinary in quality. This one definitely beats all previous releases. The Italian and French tracks are on it. No English track. The runtime is 91 minutes 28 seconds. I have a Fan Dub print in English at 95 minutes. The runtime at IMDb is at 95 minutes. It seems this French release is uncut since it’s in PAL format, at 25 frames per second, which would make a 95 minutes long movies at 24 FPS be roughly 91 minutes at 25 FPS. Recommended.

Mark Forest

Marilù Tolo and Jolanda Modio

ARTUS FILMS @ Vimeo

If you’re not familiar with ARTUS FILMS, a French film distribution company, you can have a crash course on their titles at their Vimeo channel. The channel has trailers and even VOD  you can rent. PEPLUM movies and other genres. Of course, the movies are not in English but it’s an excellent glimpse into the PEPLUM genre. I just ordered THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR DVD. Hopefully the image on the DVD is as good as the clip below.

ARTUS FILMS VIMEO